Crawley Town sign former Leicester City defender Jon Ashton

Graham Carter

The 32-year-old former England non-league international joins Reds from Stevenage, where he spent six seasons and played more than 220 games before leaving the club at the end of last season.

In a career which started at Leicester City in 2001, Jon also played for Notts County, Oxford United, Rushden & Diamonds and Grays Athletic.

He joined Stevenage in 2009 and helped the club win back to back promotions from the National League (Conference) to League One. He also had a spell as captain of the club.

Manager Mark Yates said: “Jon is a great fit for this club. He’s experienced at League One and League Two level and he’s a winner. This is a new challenge for him after a long and successful career at Stevenage and we are delighted to have as experienced a player as him in our squad.”

Jon said: “I know a couple of the lads – Jimmy Smith and Simon Walton – from my Stevenage days and that’s helped me settle in and I’m really looking forward to this new challenge. There are quite a few similarities with Stevenage and Crawley in terms of the size of the club but the manager is very ambitious and hopefully my experience of this level can help us push for promotion.”

This is a new challenge for him after a long and successful career at Stevenage and we are delighted to have as experienced a player as him in our squad.”

Crawley Town manager Mark Yates

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